author
Emil K. Urban
A leading American ornithologist, he devoted much of his life to the birds of Africa and helped create one of the field’s landmark reference works. His writing brings together deep scholarship, field experience, and a lasting fascination with avian life.
1 Audiobook
Birds from Coahuila, Mexico
by Emil K. Urban
About the author
Born in Wisconsin in 1934, Emil K. Urban became an American ornithologist whose work centered on African birdlife. Reliable memorial and reference sources describe him as a specialist in African avifauna, and note that he spent an important part of his career teaching and doing field research in Ethiopia.
He is especially associated with The Birds of Africa, the major multi-volume handbook he helped lead over decades. Colleagues remembered that project as his life’s great work, reflecting both his scientific rigor and his long commitment to making knowledge about African birds more complete and accessible.
Urban later taught at Augusta State University, where he retired as an emeritus professor. He died in 2014, leaving behind a respected body of ornithological scholarship that continues to matter to bird researchers and serious natural history readers.